Accidental Damage

Taking care of your musical instrument and equipment is of paramount importance for musicians. Of course everyone wants their instrument to function correctly, not least so that they can give their best performance, but for the professional or semi-professional musician there is another issue at stake. If your instrument or equipment is damaged while working, the repair bill could easily exceed the amount you are getting paid for the gig. However, it doesn’t matter how careful you are and how many precautions you take, accidents happen.

I had been booked to play the keyboard for two vocalists in a concert where various musicians would be performing. At some point during the rehearsal, in a rush to make an adjustment on the mixer, a guitarist tripped over a microphone cable bringing a nearby microphone and stand crashing down with force onto my keyboard. Fortunately, apart from leaving a scratch no other damage was done.

The scratch left by a microphone and stand that came crashing down on to my keyboard, narrowly missing the display screen.

Compared to some battered, scratched and dented second hand keyboards I have seen for sale – that still work perfectly – one little scratch amounts to nothing. But this is missing the point. The microphone and stand that fell on my keyboard narrowly missed the display screen (see the photo below). Had it hit and smashed the screen I would have been left with an expensive repair bill, a bill that I very much doubt the person who had tripped over the cable would have been willing to pay. Furthermore, if it had been an older keyboard, with spares no longer available, repair would have been impossible and the instrument would have become nothing more than junk.

This photo shows the close proximity of the scratch to
the display screen (the scratch has been highlighted in
white to make it clearer on the photo).

This all goes to show that we really must do all we can to protect our instruments and equipment – one of the many subjects I cover in my book ‘Breaking Into the Music Business: An Essential Guide for Performers’ – but even so, no matter how many precautions we take, accidents can happen.

Breaking Into the Music Business is packed with invaluable information, ideas, and advice based on my 30 years experience as a musician and teacher.